Sunday, June 24, 2012

point mugu - trail run

saturday morning vim and i made the trek to the outskirts of malibu to get in a run at point mugu state park. we had several options in terms of distance - 6.7, 8.3, 8.8 or 10.3M - so at the car we settled on the 8.8M journey.

we pushed off from the la jolla canyon trail close to 9am to sunny skies. the first 1.2M is probably the steepest and most technical section of the run, so we resorted to hiking in a few spots. we veered left at the la jolla loop trail, then decided to take the shorter of the trails north leading to the fire road, putting us back to the 8.3M route instead.

after a brief pit stop at the fortuitously-placed camping area, we made our way up the end of la jolla valley fire road before hanging a right on the overlook trail, where we were greeted with stunning views of the pacific ocean.

cresting la jolla valley fire road

overlook trail

after a panoramic 2 miles, we descended upon the ray miller trail, a fast and furious 2.7M single track assault back down to the PCH. outside of a few flat sections, the rest is a steep downhill that you can literally fly down.

final stretch

one of my remaining goals on the run was to go for a sub 7-minute mile, so that was the game plan come mile #7. every time i glanced at my nike+ GPS sportwatch, my pace hovered between 6'30" and 7'10", so i felt confident i'd get there. sure enough, i ran it in a blistering 6'57" - which isn't bad for it being that far into the run.

final tally at point mugu was 8.35M in 1:23:43, for a pace of 10'01"/mile, burning 953 calories while we were at it. not only that, but the vistas the overlook trail provide are simply breathtaking - the sheer adrenaline of a sight that beautiful enabled me to pound out the last 4.7M with ease...